Transforming the fostering experience

Our model gives you a path, as a family and as a community, to become the families and communities kids need.

Imagine if members of your community joined together, encouraged one another to foster and adopt, and created a network of support for these families. We would see more children with families of their own, richer family life, more engaged communities—and a better society.

The Second Nurture Model

2N partners with communities, such as synagogues, to provide a space for monthly gatherings as well as

a loving, engaged and reliable community of care ready to meet the needs of local foster families.

Cohort

Whether a family is just curious about fostering and adoption or has already taken the plunge, nothing replaces the wisdom, comfort, and “I-see-you” sense of community than meeting others on the same path. Each month, Second Nurture helps families connect by facilitating a bagel brunch, where they share experiences and meet expert guests on everything from hair care to how to talk with kids about their birth families to trauma-informed yoga, and so much more. Between meetings, families keep up with each other via a private group Facebook page. A cohort is a safe, supportive place to navigate the journey through foster care and adoption.

Networks of Support

When members of the cohort face a challenge, they turn to each other first for expertise and support, developing a trusted group of volunteer experts over time. When a need can’t be met by the cohort members, the need is made known to their wider community. When needed, Second Nurture steps in to connect members with county agencies or private organizations that can provide the necessary resources and expertise like therapeutic services, diversity training, cultural opportunities, and more.

Community Culture

Second Nurture works with communities to develop resources that integrate fostering and adoption into communal traditions, rituals and events across a range of settings so that all families feel seen and held by the larger community.

By normalizing foster care and adoption as common, celebrated ways of growing a family and facilitating a network of trust, companionship, and support among foster and adoptive families, Second Nurture builds communities that a.) hold adoption and fostering as essential values b.) help foster and adoptive families see themselves reflected in the identity of the community.

Our Model in Motion

A Community Steps Up 🙌🏽

A synagogue (or other communal organization) says: “We want to support foster families.” The 2N team guides this new “Host Community” on the how-to’s of 2N structure, components and tools.

Volunteers Get Equipped 💪🏽💪🏽

Volunteers from the Host Community become the “Care Collective” and receive training on how to host the monthly gatherings and provide individual families with support, from meals and carpools to babysitting, tutoring, and emotional support.

Foster and Fost-Adopt Families Join
Foster, kinship, and fost-adopt families in the local area join together for a monthly Cohort meeting in the Host Community building and enjoy a meal, facilitated peer support, shared resources, and childcare (“Kids’ Cohort”).